1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microsurgical instrument comprised of a handle and a plurality of interchangeable instrument heads. Each of the instrument heads are constructed to perform microsurgical operations such as forcep clamping and scissors cutting in a plane oriented at an angle to a longitudinal axis of the instrument, and in a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the instrument. The instrument handle is comprised of an exterior surface formed as at least two lever arms that are manually manipulable laterally toward and away from the longitudinal axis of the instrument to control the surgical operation performed by the instrument head connected with the handle. Because the entire handle exterior surface is manipulated to operate the instrument head connected with the handle, the instrument need not be held in any specific orientation relative to the hand in order to easily operate the instrument head by manipulating the fingers of the hand.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many different types of microsurgical instruments are known in the prior art. By the term "microsurgical instrument" what is meant is those types of instruments employed in performing surgical operations on extremely small and extremely delicate parts of the human anatomy. These instruments are specifically designed with an operative tip that is inserted into the anatomy through a very small incision. The surgical procedures performed by the instrument tip are typically observed by the surgeon through a microscope or endoscope of some type. One example of this type of surgery is ophthalmic surgery.
Typical microsurgical instruments are comprised of a manual handle having an instrument head secured to one end. The instrument head has a hollow tube projecting therefrom, and a rod received in the tube interior. The rod and tube are caused to move relative to each other in response to manual manipulation of some type of actuator on the instrument handle, and the relative movement of the rod and tube operates a surgical implement formed at their distal ends.
A common disadvantage encountered in the use of prior art microsurgical instruments is that the manual actuator positioned on the instrument handle is not conveniently accessible by the fingers of the surgeon for all positions of the handle in the surgeon's hand. In microsurgical operations it is often necessary to rotate the instrument in the surgeon's hand. With a manual actuator provided on only one side of the handle, rotating the handle so that the actuator is moved away from easy access by the surgeon's fingers makes it difficult to manipulate the actuator. To overcome this advantage, prior art microsurgical instruments have been developed where the instrument head is rotatable relative to the handle. With instruments of this type, the handle is held in a stationary position in the surgeon's hand and the instrument head is rotated relative to the handle to rotate the surgical implement formed at the distal end of the instrument head tube and rod. However, this type of instrument has also been found to be disadvantaged in that it requires two hands to rotate the instrument head during a surgical operation. The surgeon's hand gripping the instrument handle must be held stationary while a second hand, either of the surgeon or an assistant, rotates the instrument head in order to reposition the surgical implements formed at the distal ends of the tube and rod.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages associated with prior art microsurgical instruments by providing a microsurgical instrument with interchangeable instrument heads, each head being configured to perform a different surgical operation, wherein each of the heads is releasably attachable to a handle that may be rotated in the hand of the surgeon to rotate the surgical implement of the instrument head. The handle comprises lever arms that are easily manipulated in any position of the handle in the surgeon's hand to control operation of the surgical instruments of the implement head.